


Paradise

by Piensodemasiado



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Coming Out, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I wouldn't consider this angst, Kinda, M/M, bare with me english is not my native language, but there is some crying, caring Johnny, non-au, soft Ten, this ship needs more fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-11-01 20:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10929576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piensodemasiado/pseuds/Piensodemasiado
Summary: Basically Johnny outing Ten and then discovering his own feelings for the boy





	Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: in this fic, the release of 'Dream in a Dream' happens before NCT LIFE in Chiang Mai, just because it helped the plot.  
> Also, I write this partially to practice my english, so be patient with me please :)

“This is awesome and I really enjoyed it, but I can’t help but notice he is so feminine! Is he gay or something…? I also noticed this with other idols too!”

 

Johnny stopped for a second when he spotted that comment. 

Ten’s music video Dream in a Dream had just come out and Johnny himself had to admit that he was very surprised and somewhat obsessed with the whole aesthetic that his best friend had come up with. He had already lost count on how many times he had clicked replay and watched the video from the start, it was just so beautiful and the dance moves were so endearing and so Ten. He was undeniably proud and happy for the younger boy.

Those had been all his thoughts until he started reading the comments and also started finding those ones. The ones that were pointing out Ten’s feminine ways, his way of speaking, or his manners. Johnny spaced out for a moment, the phone screen getting darker with time passing. But he was so lost trying to figure out why people thought that about his friend. For him, Ten had always been Ten, bright, hilarious, soft Ten, and that was it. He hadn’t tried to read more into his actions before, but now that he thought about it, he understood why some people could consider his behaviour… feminine?

In Korea, sexuality was a taboo topic, as it was mostly considered wrong, or even sick. He was form America, but all this years in his country of origin has started to affect him, as he never thought about people being gay, or lesbian or bisexual or whatever. It was really an overshadowed and invisible lifestyle. He ended up shaking those thoughts off; they were probably just fan theories o pure gossip. But then he started thinking about the members. Most of them couldn’t read English, but Ten could. Could he have read the comments? If he had (which, honestly, was more than probable, as it was his first solo work and he was very keen on knowing other people’s opinions), he hadn’t shown any sight of it. Maybe he was used to it? For how long had fans been speaking about this? Should he talk about this with him?

Johnny fell asleep that night with his head filled with confused birds, not sure if he should let the topic go or look more into it.

 

-

 

It had been a few weeks, and the thoughts were still lingering in Johnny’s mind. He had been observing Ten a lot since then. He was his best friend, and he had been for some time now, how come he never noticed the small things that were so obviously… part of him? The small gestures that made him who he was, that drafted his personality. He was naturally touchy and close to all the members, and Johnny felt weird trying to read more into his actions. Even with him, when they were sitting next to each other during movie night, and Ten always placed a hand on his knee or in his nape, and massaged his scalp. Johnny knew it was what they always did, that was just how they were, and he liked it; Ten was very special to him. But since the fact that Ten could like boys started becoming a thing, he didn’t know how to feel anymore.

So he decided to talk to somebody else about it.

“Do you think that Ten could… like guys?”

Jaehyun didn’t even look up from the sink, where he was doing the dishes, as it was their room’s turn to clean up after dinner, “So what if he does?” Johnny was surprised that Jaehyun wasn’t the slightest take aback by his question. He had chosen the younger because, although he was Korean, he had lived in America (for four years, man), and Johnny knew for a fact that his mentality resembled more the westerns’ than Korea's. However, the fact that Jaehyun hadn’t even flinched lead Johhny to think that it wasn’t the first time the other thought about it.

“I don’t know… It’s just… have your read the comments on him lately?” he knew that he was kind of sounding like an asshole, but he didn’t know how to express what was going on his mind.

“There have always been comments about him, hyung” the younger answered, sighing and still not looking up, “It has always been kind of an unspoken thing, I thought you had noticed. Even here… people are always going to talk, but you can choose what to believe, you know that.”

“I guess so” Johnny bit his lower lip, his gaze fixated on the floor as he leaned on the counter, “But what do you think, though? Do you think he is… you know?”

The younger closed the tap and looked at him for the first time.

“I think it doesn’t matter” he was dead serious and Johhny really felt like an asshole for a second, “I don’t know what the others think or what they choose to believe. Maybe they would think differently of him, because that’s how they’ve been raised; but you and I know how shitty it is to do that to someone. You know it.”

“I know it” Johnny said quietly, running a hand throw his hair, “I do”

Jaehyun placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a supportive pat.

“Unless he brings it up himself, I don’t think we have the right to push him”

The older nodded just before Taeyong walked into the kitchen. Jaehyun backed off, cleared his throat (he was never good at concealing) and immediately switched back to Korean, “I’ll be in the room”, then he said goodnight to the leader, who just raised an eyebrow at his attitude. Johnny just chuckled and left too.

 

-

 

Just when Johnny had decided to let it go and move on from his paranoia about Ten’s sexuality (yeah, sounds as stupid as it was), something else happened. It was a Sunday morning, and they had a couple of days of full rest until they had the meeting to discuss the next NCT 127 comeback (in which Ten still wasn’t going to be in), so the two of them decided to go outside and do some shopping or just simply walk around for a bit. They had been doing that since they first met, whenever they felt like the building could swallow them up or the walls of the practice room seemed to shut around them. 

Back then, Ten was still learning Korean, so they mostly communicated in English, as the younger had been attending a bilingual school for his whole life, so he was practically fluent. The language habit had remained, so now, every time they were alone, Johnny’s native language naturally came out. And it was kind of nostalgic at the same time as it was comfortable and home. 

It was March, so the weather was still cool, although the snow had officially melted by then. The clear skies and soft breeze heralded a hot and nice summer season. They were walking around non-busy streets on the outskirts of the city centre, talking nonsense and laughing around, feeling at ease at usual; when they decided to sit down on a bench at a park nearby and just look at the few passersby. Ten was just telling him a very funny story about how Yuta had no sense of privacy and Jaehyun had had to literally kick him out of the bathroom last night while just wearing a towel around his waist and with his hair still covered in shampoo. And Johnny was listening and concentrated in the way the younger boy’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, or how his laugh was obviously too loud and too high-pitched most of the time, but Johnny would never tell him to shut it, because it made the story ten times funnier and because it was so him.

Time passed and the streetlights lightened up as the sky started to get dark. The park became mostly empty, with the exception of two guys that were sitting on the opposite bench, at a distance that muffled the conversation, but in which Johnny could still look at them from time to time. And that was the reason why, when the two boys started kissing, Johnny couldn’t help but to stare for a moment, ignoring Ten’s ranting. As the younger noticed that Johnny was looking at somewhere else, he looked too, and stared as well. A couple of minutes went by and it was only when the two strangers got up and left, hand in hand, that they snapped. Johnny looked at his friend, who was still a little lost in thought, eyes still fixated on the, now empty bench. He was going to say something, anything, to try and ease the tension that had settled down between them, when Ten suddenly sighed and stood up.

“We should get going, hyung” he said naturally, making a small eye contact.

Johnny just nodded and followed him, as they made their way back to the dorms in complete silence. The older was confused as ever. Why was Ten acting weird? Was he acting weird? Should he say something about the incident? Would have Ten said something about the couple at the park, if he hadn’t had anything to hide? They sat there to talk about people mostly, as gossipy as it sounded, and the times they had seen a couple making out before they had always laughed quietly and joked about it, no big deal, as they knew they were not allowed to date themselves. But now the atmosphere was weird and awkward and Johnny didn’t know what to do. Ten hadn’t even looked at him once since they left the park. 

He felt like had to say something. Jaehyun had told him not to stick his nose into it, as it wasn’t his business; but on the other hand, Ten was his friend, he was his best friend. They had stick together when times had gotten tough and always cared when the other was feeling down. He wanted to help, he wanted to… do something. He just couldn’t stand the feeling of impotence anymore. So when they reached to dorm door, he stopped in his tracks, and as Ten noticed this, he stopped too, hand still in the doorknob.

“What is it, hyung?” he asked, acting as if everything was normal between them.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you for while, actually” the older said, running a hand through his hair.

The younger’s face went blank for a second and then he fumbled with the handle a bit.

“It’s late hyung, let’s just talk about it tomorrow or something” he mumbled, smiling nervously. The more he spoke, the more Johnny was sure that something was up, and he blamed himself for not noticing before.

“Ten” the other finally let go of the door and looked him at him in the eyes, sighing.

“What” he deadpanned.

Now that he had all his attention, the older had to take courage to say what he wanted to say, as carefully as possible, “What has happened in the park, you know, those guys… what do you think about them?” he asked, not really sure which direction he wanted to follow.

“Why are you asking me that?” the younger started to get a little defensive, but Johnny guessed it was a good sign.

“I don’t know, ever since we left the park, you seem a bit off, and… I don’t know, I just wanted to make sure you know that you can always talk to me, okay? About anything” he was being serious while saying it, but his confidence was slowly wearing off, as the younger was getting more and more upset.

“What are you trying to say” he interrupted his word vomit, quite sharply.

“Ten” Johnny tried to just look at him in the eyes, but this made the younger burst almost immediately.

“Oh my God!” he covered his face with his hands and breathed fastly, as a few tears eventually made their way down his face. The silence was heavy; Johnny’s heart broke a little bit at the sight in front of his eyes. He got that it was a difficult moment, as it was for him too. He couldn’t imagine what Ten had been going through, he didn’t want to try either. He wanted to wait until the younger said something else; he didn’t want to overwhelm him any further.

But the next words that left Ten’s lips made him confused again.

“It was Mark, right?” he said, voice broken, small sobs added to the shaking of his shoulders.

“Mark? What are talking about, Ten?” he said, worried and disconcerted.

“He is the only person that knows, so who else could have told you?” he still wasn’t looking into his eyes, as he leaned against the door and kept cleaning the non-stopping tears. “I knew it was a bad idea, fuck. I should have known better” he was mostly talking to himself and Johnny knew this, but he couldn’t help but to answer.

“No one told me, Ten, I swear. I just… I don’t know how I know but it doesn’t matter” he said, trying to calm the younger down, but having the feeling that it wasn’t going to work this time. “I just want you to know that there’s nothing wrong with liking boys or… whatever, you know? I’m not going to hate you or stop talking to you or anything. I want you to count on me” he was just about to place a hand on Ten’s shoulder to show him his support, when the younger suddenly backed off rather sharply.

“This is not about liking boys, idiot!” he almost yelled. It passed Johnny’s mind that it was just so fucked up that Ten was breaking down right in front of his eyes, and he still managed to control his volume, because it was part of the rules. It doesn’t matter how you are feeling, you must never cause noise or disturb the halls. “I’ve known that for my whole life now! And yes it is fucked up. It is fucked up to have to be always someone else, but you know what? I don’t live in Chicago, I wasn’t born like that. I wish I was, but I’m not, and this is my luck, so I suck it up. This” he said, making a big hand motion, “all of this, is tolerable, believe it or not.”

Johnny gulped, suddenly feeling incredibly shitty of a friend, of a person, but he was not going to back out or remain silent now. He had started this, so he was going to get to the core.

“Then what is it?” he asked.

Ten sighed, upset and puffy eyes, “As if you didn’t know” he mumbled.

“You said this is not about liking boys, so what is it?” 

“This is about having feelings for my best friend” he said, clear, dry, giving him a cold, piercing look. Johnny’s heart skipped a beat, as he opened his mouth, but no sound came out of it. “See? You can’t do shit” one last tear run down Ten’s cheek and his neck. A minute passed and Ten was just turning to finally get inside the dorm, when it opened from inside. Taeyong and Jaehyun were laughing at something, but then they saw them and immediately went quiet.

“What’s wrong?” the leader asked, placing a hand on Ten’s shoulder and trying to look at his face.

The Thai guy just shook his head and walked inside of the dorm, letting the door shut behind him. Silence filled the hall again for a couple of seconds, until Taeyong sighed “I don’t know what you did, but you better solve this, man” and continued walking. Johnny nodded, just starting to take in what Ten had confessed, as he ignored the aggrieved look that Jaehyun gave him.

It wasn’t until he was alone on the corridor, that he fully understood.

And he knew he fucked up.

 

-

 

Days passed and the members started to notice that something was off between them. After the ‘incident’ Ten had spent a few days acting weird. He barely talked to anyone, and locked himself up in his room whenever someone suggested doing something, arguing that he was tired, or sleepy, or not feeling too well. Johnny just looked down and bit the inside of his cheeks. He felt like an absolute douche, but he wanted to give the other guy some space. He was still trying to figure out how he felt about the younger’s feelings towards him. The way he had looked at him and how his voice had cracked, it gave him chills. So, for the most part, he decided to wait.

And it sort of worked. After a few days had passed, Ten started to be Ten again. He started to joke around with the members and laugh out loud. Nobody said anything about his attitude. No more piercings looks from Jaehyun, who had tried to make him spill about what had happened, but Johnny remained silent. Everything seemed to have gone back to normal, except for one thing. 

A week later, Sunday morning, Johnny woke up early (not because he had set an alarm, just because his sleeping schedule was pretty much non-existent at this point, so it was difficult for him to sleep more than five hours in a row), and, as usual, went to the kitchen to make some coffee. It wasn’t really a surprise when he found Ten sitting at the kitchen isle with a steaming mug between his hands.

“Good morning” he said, right before turning to face the countertop. His shoulders relaxed noticeably when, right away, he heard a soft ‘good morning’ in a raspy accent. Johnny smiled a bit and continued making the coffee. When he had it in his hand, he took some air and slowly turned around, leaning against the isle, looking at the other guy carefully.

“Ten, I…” he started, not really sure what he wanted to say, “I don’t know what to…”

“Johnny” the younger interrupted, giving him a reassuring smile, “It’s okay. I’m okay. Really”

Johnny felt bad again. Being like this with his best friend had been torture, and he had been kind of repressing it the whole time. He nodded and stared at his mug for a bit.

“I want us to be okay” said Ten, looking at him with a mix of hope and worry, very badly concealed “You’re still my best friend, right?”

Johnny smiled and nodded again, more secure this time.

“Of course, idiot. And you’re still mine, no matter what.”

It was now Ten’s time to nod and smile down at his mug. 

 

-

 

And everything went back to normal. But not quite.

The two of them spent time together again, being it watching American series, playing video games, or even cooking together. And those were fun, and warm, and everything that Johnny wanted from them. Except for the fact that Ten never wanted to go for the long Sunday walk that had been their tradition for years now. Johnny hadn’t even suggested it, but because, every time he tried to, Ten had already made plans. Which meant they never really talked. And Johnny got it, he got it. A part of him could understand why Ten couldn’t feel entirely comfortable around him yet (mostly because, he, himself didn’t know how to act somehow around the younger).

But how long was this ‘thing’ between them going to last?

The next NCT 127’s comeback had been programmed for the next month. But first, they were announced that the five of them (Johnny, Jaehyun, Taeyong, Doyoung, Ten) had been selected again to film an NCT LIFE. Again, in Thailand, in a place called Chiang Mai. They had a day to prepare the luggage and they would take off the next morning, so they all rushed to the dorms. It wasn’t enough time to prepare everything thoughtfully, but they were already used to it. Things worked like that sometimes at the company.

And Johnny was excited, of course. Even with all the cameras around, when they travelled together, it always felt like normal trip with his friends, or at least he could pretend that it was. 

 

-

 

As soon as they landed, and the heat wave hit him in the face, Ten felt like he was at home. As much as he loved his life in Korea and the country in itself, there wasn’t a place like this. Even if he had hated his home country when he was younger, he could appreciate it more now. Not just the weather, that was much greater; or the food (honestly, Koreans needed to learn how to spice things up a bit).

It was the country that had seen him grown, that had moulded him. That, and that he was going to be able to visit his family, and that was always really nice, as well as emotional and kind of nostalgic. But it was all worth it at the end. Living away from his loved ones had been tough at first, but that was the prize he had to pay. Plus, everyone had been so nice to him when he first arrived to Korea, and he was just a lost teenager who could barely speak the language. His capacity of adaptation and his skills on making new friends came in handy back then.

The first time he had returned to his home town with the members had been a little more than a year ago, but it felt like a lot more, with the amount of things they had accomplished ever since. The first NCT LIFE had been full of emotions, meeting Thai fans, hanging with his family, even going back to his old high school. That one had really gotten to him, to the point that he had even broken down, full-on crying in front of the cameras, his teachers and his friends, but he couldn’t help it. It was at that moment that he really started to feel affection towards Johnny; the older being so caring and always making sure he could talk about his country, not minding him ranting. He had even asked his teachers to tell him how proud they were, and Ten knew he hadn’t done that for the show. He had done it because, as always, he knew that that was what Ten wanted.

All of the memories filled his head as he tried not to fall asleep on the way to Chiang Mai, which was a couple of hours away by car. It was already night, and car rides always made him extra sleepy. Johnny was sitting by his side, already dozed off. Normally, Ten would just lean his head against the older’s shoulder and give up. But, something had been stopping him from getting too close to his friend recently. So he sighed and pressed his forehead against the car window cold glass.

 

-

 

As the credits rolled down the laptop screen, Ten proceeded to check the time, not very surprised when finding out that it was almost three in the morning. Right next to him, Johnny had been struggling to keep his eyes open during the last three episodes of the first season of Stranger Things, and trying to conceal it in front of Ten the whole time, as usual. The Thai boy chuckled a little at his friend’s sleepy expression while closing everything on the computer and letting it on the nightstand. 

When they did the room distribution it ended up on Ten, Jaehyun and Doyoung sharing the big one, while Johnny and Taeyong staying together in the one with the king sized bed. Ten was pleased, really, because he knew that sleeping with Jaehyun meant comfort and occasional cuddling (and Jaehyun’s cuddles were the best, really); and that Doyoung would never let them sleep passed the hour accorded. It was the third day of filming and he was very happy. Later on the day, when the powerful sun was starting to descent in the sky, the members and all the crew decided to wrap up for the day go back to the house. And that’s how he had ended up in Johnny’s room binge-watching Netflix and eating snacks, as they usually did. It was comfortable and easy, just like always. 

“It’s late, I should go back to my room” he said quietly, starting to get up, but stopping when he heard Johnny’s husky voice from drowsiness.

“You can stay” he said casually, getting more comfortable between the sheets, “I bet Taeyong has already dozed off on your bed anyway”.

Ten thought about it for a second. And that was his mistake, because normally, he wouldn’t even consider refusing it. But it took him a moment, and the both of them noticed it. Ten quickly mumbled an ‘okay’ and got back under the sheets, which were already warm (Thailand was very hot during the day, but it was rather cold at night still). For a while, they stayed quiet, so long that Ten was starting to think that the older has asleep already.

“We used to do this all the time” Johnny said, quietly in the silence of the night.

Ten turned to his right to find Johnny facing him, but with his eyes wondering somewhere else, as if he was scared of approaching the topic. He could understand why his friend felt that way, because he was pretty much in the same situation. Since the ‘incident’ they hadn’t really talked about it, and if Ten thought that he could get away with just accepting an awkward apology and pretending that nothing had happened, he knew he had been wrong. 

“I just… didn’t know if you’d be comfortable, I guess” he replied, feeling his heartbeat increase and his face heat up.

“Ten, c’mon” Johnny said, looking at him this time, with the tiniest bit of annoyance in his eyes, “what king of person do you think I am?”

“I don’t know, okay?!” he said in a high-pitched voice, the corners of his mouths starting to form a smile he didn’t know where was coming from.

“You didn’t fell in love with a douche, y’know” and now Johnny was showing his sassy playful side, and oh, Ten had missed it so much. He didn’t even care about the joke, or the topic being brought up.

“Oh, don’t be so full of yourself” he chuckled “This just shows how bad my taste in men is”

The older faked an offended expression and a gasp of indignation and Ten laughed at his friend’s acting skills.  
“No, but really” Johnny said after a while of playful bickering, “I really want you to be okay with talking to me about this kind of stuff”

“Gay stuff?” Ten said smiling cheekily, and it was Johnny’s turn to lose his shit.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that” he responded between giggles.

“To be honest, I don’t really know what you want to hear”

“What about your first crush on a guy?” Johnny pushed a little bit the get the conversation going, which he knew was the way to slowly make Ten feel more comfortable about this.

“A guy in my math class, last year of middle school” Ten tried to remember more details, but it was so long ago, and, honestly, his childhood was so cringe-worthy he’d rather to dig too much into it, “Although I didn’t realise what those feelings meant until I started high school and started attending dance lessons.”

“And how did you feel back then?” Johnny thought he was stepping over boundaries, but he tried anyway, he knew that if it ended up being too much, Ten would stop him immediately.

“It wasn’t… that hard really, as you see in the movies. It was as if I already knew, but had forgotten or something. It had always been a part of who I was, so putting a label on it didn’t really change anything” Ten was staring at the ceiling, lost in his memories. “It wasn’t even difficult back then, as Thailand isn’t as closed-minded as Korea in that aspect. What made it difficult was not being able to tell anyone when I came here, I guess” he turned his head to the side to half-smile at Johnny. The older felt, once again, as if he didn’t know his best friend. He was discovering a huge part of the person who was Ten, and he loved it, but he felt also kind of guilty.

“I’m sorry I never asked or… I don’t know, I feel so useless” he confessed.

“Oh, no, please, you know it is not like that. If none of you know it’s because I want it to be this way” Ten hadn’t said it, but Johnny knew it was because, it didn’t matter how much they cared about each other in their group, knowing this could make some of the members start to look at him differently, or worse. The mood of the conversation was clearly going down, and Johnny knew the last thing Ten wanted was to open old wounds, so he kept asking questions for a while, funny ones. 

“Okay. This is the important question. Your first kiss with a boy” Johnny asked faking seriousness, as if the were in some kind of TV talk show. 

Ten opened his eyes wide and, once again, his face heated up, “I haven’t kissed any boy”

Johnny’s mouth opened up in surprise immediately, “What? How come?”

“How am I supposed to kiss a boy, dumbass?” Ten got a little defensive. It was a sensitive topic, okay?

“Even I kissed boys in high school, what the fuck? Don’t you have spin the bottle in Thailand?”

“You know only American teens play that kind of stuff!” he thought for a second and then literally had to sit back up form the shock, “Wait” he looked at Johnny dead in the eye “You have kissed guys?!”

“Yeah, a couple. It’s not a big deal” he shrugged it of, smiling a bit cockily, and then asked, “but you have kissed girls, right?

“Pf, of course” he rolled his eyes childishly and Johnny laughed.

“Well, it is not that different, really”

Ten stayed silent for a moment, lost in thought, with a frown between his eyebrows. Johnny thought he looked cute, and then the idea took form in his mind.

“Hey” he said, sitting up next to him, “let’s kiss”

And if Ten had been shocked before, he almost feel from the bed this time, looking at him as if he was absolutely crazy. “Johnny…” he started, worry filling his features.

“I mean, if you don’t want to…” he started, a little taken aback from his friend’s reaction.

“It’s not like that and you know it” Ten complained, “It wouldn’t be fair for you. It would be like taking advantage of you” Ten scrunched his nose as if the mere thought disgusted him.

Johnny thought about it for a second, then shrugged it off and smiled, “It’s okay with me”

Ten sighed and bit his lip in concentration, as if he was trying to read into his friend’s actions. 

“Okay”, he finally said “But, for the record, it was you who asked, not me”

Johnny chucked and nodded, “Okay”, he said, leaning on a little bit, his face getting closer to Ten’s, and looking at his in the eyes intensely, with a smirk adorning his lips, as if he was silently daring him.

Ten took a second to look at the features he knew so well, breathing deeply to try to calm his beating heart. He could feel that he was going to regret this in the morning, and that it was not a very smart idea. But it was dark, and quiet, and soft, and the temptation was too much. This didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous; he sure was, as hell. But he eventually managed to place his lips against Johnny’s for less than half a second and back off as quickly. It was hardly a peck, but he could feel his own face turning red.

“Really?” Johnny raised both eyebrows, “I’m not your sister, Ten; kiss me for real” 

“I’m nervous, okay?”

The older chuckled softly and placed his right hand on Ten’s nape, looking at him calmly and kissing him again. This time, Ten didn’t withdraw. They stood like that for a moment, until Johnny opened up his mouth a little bit and started to move his lips against Ten’s, while the younger tried to keep up naturally. Johnny’s lips were soft and full, and his nose bumped against his form time to time, but it wasn’t really noticeable for him. Ten was just so lost in the feeling that at one point, he even placed his hands in Johnny’s chest and curled his fists against the material of his shirt. They fitted against each other perfectly, and although the kiss wasn’t entirely perfect (a few time their teeth bumped), it felt like that for Ten.

And he knew Johnny was feeling the same way. He didn’t need to ask, he didn’t need to look him in the eyes, to know. And it didn’t make sense, because supposedly, the older was straight, and why hadn’t he said anything when Ten confessed, if he had wanted to kiss him as much as Ten did? It didn’t make sense. However, the way Johnny played with the hairs on his nape, the way he followed his lips when Ten started to back off a little bit; those things meant something. From the moment that they started it, they both knew it wasn’t a harmless kiss between friends.  
And the look in Johnny’s eyes after they finally parted, so full of fondness and love; only confirmed what Ten was thinking.

 

-

 

Ten looked out of the plane’s window, the dim and warm light of the sunrise bathing his features, as he sighed. It was time to say goodbye again to his home, and although he was used to, it always left his heart feeling a little bit emptier than when he arrived. He always left a part of him back when he returned to Korea, but it was fine. Just nostalgic.

“Are you okay?” 

Johnny asked, concerned about him. And it was normal; it was what always happened since they met. Johnny would feel every time that Ten’s mood was down, and he’d try to make it better without thinking about it. Just as Ten would always cheer him up when teaching him the new choreography, or make him laugh when he missed his life back in the US. It was what they did, and had always done.

What was new was Johnny’s fingers intertwined with his, and the little peck Ten left on his cheek when he answered, “I’m more than okay”.


End file.
